Rangers ended any realistic hopes of progressing to the Europa League as they were held to a 1-1 draw with Braga despite the Portugal international playing over 30 minutes with 10 men.
To make matters worse, Braga star man Rodrigo Zalazar led Rangers in goals at the end of the game, but instead of relinquishing the lead, Rangers conceded a disappointing equalizer from Gabri Martínez, leaving them holding on to one point but doing nothing for their already distant dream of making it to the last 16.
Despite picking up their first point of the season, Danny Rohr’s side remain fourth in the bottom of the group stage table and will need a miracle to move five points clear of the play-off spots, with nine teams needing to catch up with three games remaining.
“I feel like we lost the game because it was in our hands,” captain James Tavanier told TNT Sports.
“They have to be more patient and work better in the final third instead of taking shots when they’re really bad. It’s their lack of focus on goal.”
“It was a missed opportunity for us. We have to be more clinical in both areas, but I believe (we are going in the right direction). The players are buying into it. We have to build on this and learn from it.”
Until Zalazar’s red, Rangers were the better team at Ibrox and unsurprisingly held the lead at half-time thanks to Tavernier’s penalty after being awarded a handball by a VAR review.
That shot saw him score 21 goals in Europe and earn him captaincy alongside Gers legend Ally McCoist – and at that point everything looked rosy.
It won’t last. Zalazar’s red card came after another VAR check confirmed he had moved his head towards Nicolas Raskin during the confrontation, but Braga equalized just eight minutes later when Nasser Dziga misjudged a cross and Martinez provided the perfect assist to slot home at the back post.
Rangers’ lack of urgency to restore their advantage was made even more puzzling by the presence of extra players and rendered meaningless in stoppage time when Mohamed Diomande was harshly shown a second yellow for an inadvertent elbow.
Analysis: There are calls for Rangers everywhere.
Sky Sports’ Adam Binney said at Ibrox:
“Rangers will now probably be eliminated from the Europa League. They will need to win their last three games against Ferencvaros, Ludogorets and Porto to have a chance.
“Still, just 10 points are unlikely to guarantee a place in the play-off round. Last year, 11 points for Braga and Elfsborg were not enough to advance from the competition, while Dinamo Zagreb were eliminated from the Champions League with 11 points.
“Five games, zero wins, one point, two goals. It’s tough for a team that just reached the quarterfinals last season.”
Roll insists on “moving forward” despite the draw
Rangers head coach Danny Rolle said on TNT Sports:
“Yes, of course 100 percent (progress). We have seen a really competitive team for 60 minutes against a team that has nine points from four games.
“We were the better team, we created more chances and we won the ball more often. Of course it’s disappointing now, but it was a big step forward in our progress.”
“It was an important moment, the throw-in. I’m not making excuses, but the windy second half was always difficult. There’s no question mark for me about our progress today. We came up from 3-0 and 2-0 (defeats) and today we played well for 60 to 65 minutes.”
